Writing & StyleStyle guide

Avoiding All Caps for Emphasis

Avoiding All Caps for Emphasis records the relevant Microsoft Style Guide convention while keeping it explicitly house-style scoped rather than presenting it as a universal grammar rule.

Quick answer

Do not use ALL CAPS merely to emphasize prose in Microsoft-style documentation; use clearer wording or an appropriate emphasis treatment instead.

Key details

Core IssueMicrosoft style explicitly says not to use all uppercase text for emphasis.
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Important caveats

Scope Boundary

This is Microsoft house style; literal strings, acronyms, ports, or product-specific text that is genuinely uppercase should still be reproduced accurately.

Further guidance

Content

Do not use ALL CAPS merely to emphasize prose in Microsoft-style documentation; use clearer wording or an appropriate emphasis treatment instead.

Purpose

Maintain readable, consistent typography without turning capitalization into a generic emphasis device.

Sources and evidence

Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.

  1. Capitalization — Microsoft Style Guide (opens in a new tab)Microsoft · Microsoft technical-style guidance for sentence-style headings, acronym expansion capitalization and capitalization after colons

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